Conferences & Lectures: Polish Studies: 午夜AV

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April 24, 2022

Conferences & Lectures

2024-2025

2023-2024

We congragulate the winners of the 2024 "East Central Europe between East and West Realism and Fantasy" FORUM! The first place winner is Shannon Artman, and tied for second place are Zuzanna Wojtasik and Charles Chengary.

Professor Merchant's class enjoyed Professor Romanowski's lecture From left: John Merchant, Bozena McLees, Piotr Romanowski, and Victoria Granacki

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Presented in partnership with the and the , join us for an exciting symposium delving into Chicago’s Polish history!

The Koscuiszko Foundation scholar Dr. Maciej Olchawa organized a panel to discuss the outcome of the Russo-Ukrainian war, and how it will shape the security of all of Europe, and if the Kremlin succeeds in its genocidal war to subjugate the Ukrainian nation, Poland may be next. This concern is not new for Poland, and the roots of its ongoing support for Ukraine may be traced back to the concepts of prometheism and 20th-century Polish attempts at mobilizing nationalism against Moscow in the Soviet borderlands. What was prometheism, and how does it continue to shape Poland’s foreign policy? How was this doctrine pursued by Polish and Ukrainian émigrés during the Cold War? How does Putin’s regime react to efforts at mobilizing nationalism in post-Soviet states? Please join us as we address these questions during the webinar “Prometheism and Power: Mobilizing Nationalism to Confront the Russian Empire.”

2022-2023

The spring semester public lecture took place at the Ukranian Institute of Modern ARt located in the Ukranian Village. The Ukranian and Polish members of the audience were very genaged in the question and answer session with the presenter.

2021-2022

The Polish Studies Program introduces a new initiatve designed in collaboration with The Kosciuszko Foundation, where generous donors established in 2022 a fund to bring to 午夜AV scholars in varies disciplines. Our first Kosciuszko Foundation Scholar is Dr. Maciej Olchawa, who will teach a course about Polish, Ukranian, and Russian relations in the Department of Political Science. We are pleased to sponsor his inaugural public lecture at the Polish Museum of America.

2020-2021

In-Class Guest Speakers

Professor John Merchant host speakers in his Polish American Literature classes. Click on the hyperlinked texts to be redirected to the lecture on Panopto.

Martyna Majok, Polish American writer, Pulitzer Prize Winner for Drama

with Zbigniew Bana艣, Ma艂gorzata Po艣piech and Bo偶ena Nowicka McLees

Film discussion with Professor Zbigniew Bana艣, LUC Polish Studies Instructor of Polish and European Cinema

2019-2020

**The Pucinski Conference has been featured in Dziennik Zwiazkowy, a Polish newspaper.**

Please click to read it!

2018-2019

September 7-9, 2018

Members of Polish American Historical Association

On September 7-9, 午夜AV hosted a conference to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Polish American Historical Society (PAHA) - an institution whose mission is to research and promote the history and culture of the Polish Diaspora and Polonia. Participants in the conference included historians, sociologists and other researchers from both the United States and Poland, who presented lectures on topics ranging from research on the history of Polonia and immigration to achievements and challenges PAHA faces for the future.

PAHA Panel: Quo Vadis Polish American Studies

In addition to lectures and discussion panels, the conference’s participants had the opportunity to visit 午夜AV University’s Lake Shore Campus, watch the film The Fourth Partition and visit historically significant landmarks for Polonia in Chicago.

The conference was organized in partnership with the Senate of the Republic of Poland, the Polish Academy of Learning, and the Institute of American Studies and Polish Diaspora at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Representatives of many Polish and American institutions and organizations including the Chicago Polish Museum, the Museum of Polish History in Warsaw, the Chicago History Museum, the Immigration Museum in Gdansk and the Józef Pi艂sudski Institute in New York also participated in the event.

PAHA Panel: Polish American History Museums

Half of the conference participants were researchers from Poland, which demonstrates the growing interest in the history of Polonia and the Polish diaspora in Poland.

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Professor Dominik Pacyga

Dr. Dominik Pacyga, an American historian of Polonia, summed up the significance of the conference saying “PAHA is a very important organization. Polonia needs to know their history to understand their present. For 75 years, the organization has been helping researchers who study the history of Polonia reach an American academic audience.

Professor Anna Mazurkiewicz, PAHA President

PAHA can boast of many achievements, and the organization, thanks to an influx of new members, especially young researchers from Poland, has a bright future ahead. New and fresh ideas come with young people. I am sure that PAHA will continue to develop dynamically, and in 25 years will be celebrating its 100th anniversary”‌

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Bozena Nowcka McLees and Dean Fr. Thomas Reagan

The director of the Polish Studies Program at 午夜AV, Bo偶ena Nowicka McLees, highlighted that “In recent years, the organization has been able to consolidate studies devoted to the diaspora, and especially to Polonia in America, to attract a larger group of researchers from Poland and bring together their research with the work of researchers studying Polonia in the United States. For decades these two groups were separate, but over the last twenty years, the situation has changed radically. This change can be seen at PAHA’s anniversary conference - half of its presenters came from Poland. Thanks to this, there is an authentic exchange of opinions, research and observations, which is very valuable from an academic point of view.”

Quotes for this summary were taken from an article published in Polish by on September 18, 2018.

Access the program

The Lira Ensemble concert in the evening of the conference

Tour of Polish Chicago for conference guests

2017-2018

Professor Bozena Nowicka McLees and Vice Consul Piotr Semeniuk

‌Anthony Bukoski Visits 午夜AV

November 10th & 11th, 2017

Yuriy Serebryansky Visits 午夜AV

September 20th, 2017

2015-2016

April 8

Slawomir Grunberg’s documentary “Karski and the Lords of Humanity” presents an engaging, multifaceted portrait of the legendary Polish resistance fighter who tirelessly tried to open the eyes of the world to the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis during World War II. Grunberg deftly combines documentary footage of a Karski’s recollection of the events with other interviews, old photographs, and even animated sequences to create a cohesive and persuasive account of how the leaders of the most powerful nations chose to remain deaf to his pleas for an urgent intervention. The nature of this documentary forcefully emphasizes the contrast between Karski’s selfless efforts and the indifference of those who were in a position to affect meaningful change.